Free Republic

Mumbo-Jumbo Mystic Impervious To Cops' Electric Blasters For those of you who've ever wondered, like you do, whether the Jedi lightsabre or the Taser is the more effective weapon, we're delighted to report that the electric dispenser of justice is no match for Obi-Wan Kenobi's mighty glowing tool. David A. Canterbury earlier this week went on the rampage at a Portland Toys R Us store, assaulting three customers with a plastic replica of the Jedi weapon. Cue swift intervention by law enforcement operatives, who found 33-year-old Canterbury wandering in the parking lot, "talking incoherently", and still swinging his Star Wars...

A handheld laser likened to a Star Wars lightsabre and so powerful it can instantly blind and "set fire to skin and other body parts" can be bought online and shipped to the UK. The device - with a beam 1,000 times stronger than sunlight on the skin - is touted by makers as "the most dangerous laser ever created". Laser safety expert John Colton, director of Lucid Optical Services, told Sky News Online that the lasers were "horrendously dangerous.

Two Brits who live for Star Wars have come close to dying for it, too. The BBC reported Tuesday that a 20-year-old man and 17-year-old girl are in critical condition after apparently pouring gasoline into fluorescent light tubes and lighting them. Authorities believe they were filming a mock light sabre duel when one of the devices exploded in a wooded area at Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, according to the story. It's likely no coincidence that the incident took place days after Star Wars sequel Revenge of the Sith opened in movie theaters. I'm sure the two were inspired by the movie's...

Star Wars fans burnt by petrol-filled 'light sabre'By Stewart Payne(Filed: 24/05/2005)A man of 20 and a girl aged 17 were engulfed in flames when a home-made Star Wars "light sabre" exploded and showered them with burning petrol.Mark Webb and Shelley Mandiville are thought to have filled a fluorescent tube with fuel to imitate the weapons in the latest Star Wars film Revenge of the Sith, released at the weekend. But their clothing caught fire and Mr Webb suffered 40 per cent burns.Firemen were called to woodland near Hemel Hempstead, Herts, on Sunday and found them on the ground. Police...